ARI has a unique and valuable role in the autism community, and your support is needed for us to continue to make a difference in the lives of individuals on the autism spectrum and their families.

As many of your know, in the 1990s ARI single-handedly raised awareness of medical issues commonly associated with autism by networking researchers with physicians, conducting and supporting research, and disseminating medically-related information to the entire autism community. Issues such as GI, immune, and metabolism problems are now common knowledge and accepted by much of the autism community.

Furthermore, in the 1970s ARI pioneered the importance of restricted diets and nutritional support; and in the 1960s, ARI was a strong early supporter of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).

And today, on the edge of 2016, ARI continues to be on the forefront of autism.

Much of what is described above was a result of the hard work and dedication of autism pioneer and ARI's founder, Dr. Bernard Rimland. I was a close colleague of Dr. Rimland for 30 years, and I continue to follow his visionary guidance. To learn more about our current position on autism, please read my recent paper titled The Autism Research Institute's Approach to Autism.

We at ARI are also cognizant of the importance of disseminating quality and trusted information to the autism community. We now offer, in joint providership with the Cleveland Clinic, complimentary webcasts offering AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ to physicians and the general public on gastrointestinal, medical, metabolic, and neurological comorbidities in autism -- thousands of viewers have tuned in over the past 12 months; we sponsor, on a near-weekly basis, live webinars presented by vetted experts; we maintain an information-packed website, autism.com; we publish a quarterly science newsletter and several e-newsletters; we have made great strides working on adult-related issues; and much, much more. Learn about ARI's accomplishments in 2015

The issues described are important to us, and we hope they are important to you. We are grateful for your support.